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I am torn on this. I have friends who complain that they are engineers, and had to take so much math in school they don’t use. They apparently dont see much val

I am torn on this. I have friends who complain that they are engineers, and had to take so much math in school they don’t use. They apparently dont see much value in just the fact they learned it, or the increased knowledge. However, no matter how much experience someone may have, I am not sure I am willing to trust a bridge designed by an engineer that couldnt pass a basic calculus sequence. To steelman this position, the college degree is a singal that they are capable of learning some more complex concepts. So even if it isnt a business degree, if they start talking about cost basis they can pick that up, and that they can read and write at a high enough level to function in management. It also shows that the person is serious about moving up.

JadeNB 1y ago
> I have friends who complain that they are engineers, and had to take so much math in school they don’t use. This seems to me like saying "I could be a better engineer by combining engineering expertise with mathematical knowledge, and I have that knowledge, but I prefer not to use it." I don't always learn new things well enough to realize their potential, but I've never once regretted learning something new, and, if I don't know how to use it, then I usually assume that's on me, not on the subject.
sowbug 1y ago
I have friends who complain that they are engineers, and had to take so much math in school they don’t use. Every liberal arts major could make this complaint. The curriculum is supposed to teach you to think, not necessarily to teach you things.
hn_acc1 1y ago
I don't use, and barely passed that circuits course using partial differential equations. But at least now I have some idea of what they are, and where they are useful. I also don't use Fourier transforms much, or Taylor or McLaurin expansions - but it gives me a solid foundation for understanding how people do various signal analysis, function approximation, etc. I.e. I agree that I had to take a lot of math. And I don't use much of it. But I'm not really resentful of it - I'm only resentful of the sometimes useless profs we got.
seec 1y ago
Well if you come to France, you will find plenty of bridges that were designed before calculus was even a thing and thankfully, they are still standing. Calculus is mostly theoretical science and is not strongly related to engineering, even though nowadays engineers may start with this tool. Education does have some value but I believe it is mostly for people looking to push the envelope and do research. For people who are going to be part of the industry/workforce it's extremely overrated, especially since all knowledge has a useful half-life that tends to be pretty short. If you pick people 20 years after their studies and ask them questions about the curriculum, they are probably going to be unable to answer much of it, outside of what they regularly use for their current or previous job.

JadeNB 1y ago

> I have friends who complain that they are engineers, and had to take so much math in school they don’t use. This seems to me like saying "I could be a better engineer by combining engineering expertise with mathematical knowledge, and I have that knowledge, but I prefer not to use it." I don't always learn new things well enough to realize their potential, but I've never once regretted learning something new, and, if I don't know how to use it, then I usually assume that's on me, not on the subject.

sowbug 1y ago

I have friends who complain that they are engineers, and had to take so much math in school they don’t use. Every liberal arts major could make this complaint. The curriculum is supposed to teach you to think, not necessarily to teach you things.

hn_acc1 1y ago

I don't use, and barely passed that circuits course using partial differential equations. But at least now I have some idea of what they are, and where they are useful. I also don't use Fourier transforms much, or Taylor or McLaurin expansions - but it gives me a solid foundation for understanding how people do various signal analysis, function approximation, etc. I.e. I agree that I had to take a lot of math. And I don't use much of it. But I'm not really resentful of it - I'm only resentful of the sometimes useless profs we got.

seec 1y ago

Well if you come to France, you will find plenty of bridges that were designed before calculus was even a thing and thankfully, they are still standing. Calculus is mostly theoretical science and is not strongly related to engineering, even though nowadays engineers may start with this tool. Education does have some value but I believe it is mostly for people looking to push the envelope and do research. For people who are going to be part of the industry/workforce it's extremely overrated, especially since all knowledge has a useful half-life that tends to be pretty short. If you pick people 20 years after their studies and ask them questions about the curriculum, they are probably going to be unable to answer much of it, outside of what they regularly use for their current or previous job.